Collin
by Flynn Roswell
Summary: Twists and turns this story into an intense mystery thriller or a black comedy. Molly has been found dead, and her mother, too. With schools closing down, only one bus didn't get the news. Drifting from comedy to drama, angst to poetry, violence to romance, it emerges into a day of a single town's dead-end society and what comes forth in life.


Collin

By

Flynn Roswell

CHAPTER ONE

1

In about five seconds, Molly Collins will receive a bullet to the head while she drips her own cold blood on the roof of the car from the inside while it was flipped over and her mother laid out in the snow shot dead. Anything can happen in the suburbs, yet people still believe the illogical that it's safe here. It isn't, and yet no place is a safe haven. I give you my soul on that, and he pulled the trigger and walked away.

2

Gumball was eating his cereal with a fork, while his mom was discussing about his grades from his recent report. It was barely going to be winter break, and now she's yapping her mouth opening like a Hungry-Hungry Hippo. He wished her a good morning and walked out to meet his friend, the rainbow-colored poof ball named Tobias Wilson at the bus stop.

December 19, Thursday, was the date, and today was the day someone else was going to die. I cannot grieve this tragedy enough for those who want a funny story. But, in all fairness, the humor in this accident comes from our little mishaps.

"How did you on the test?" Tobias asked, drinking some hot chocolate in his small Styrofoam cup while wearing red puffy gloves. Gumball noticed.

"You're drinking this and you aren't sharing?" Gumball said.

"Well do you want to catch diseases?" Tobias said. "I just wanted to bring some so I wouldn't be cold."

"_So you wouldn't be cold?_ Do you know how I feel? It makes me feel stupid. Makes me feel so stupid that I didn't get some hot chocolate with me."

"It' coco," he said as he took another sweet sip of his now clarified hot coco.

"What?" he said, turning back towards Tobias.

"I said 'it's coco,' not hot chocolate."

"All right, even better. I'm freezing my asshole here and you're drinking some hot stuff there."

Tobias wasn't even paying attention. He drank some too fast when he said "asshole" and now appears to be choking on some. He spit out some on the snow and made it look like he may have spilled blood, if one weren't paying attention to the color.

"You said 'asshole,' dude," he said, chuckling on what's left in his mouth—nothing but saliva and a little bit of coco and a piece of chicken from two nights ago.

"Like I give a _fuck_ what I say," Gumball said, now angry.

"Look, if you want some hot chocolate or coco or whatever turns you on, go to your house, it's literally right by," he said pointing towards his house.

"I can't," he said.

"Why not?"

"Because I spend my whole time arguing with you about your fucking coco water and the bus could be here any minute now."

"Well, I'm sorry, I was talking about a test a few moments ago and you bring up your fetish with dark chocolate and now you're so damn lazy you can't walk over"—pointing with his cup, again, at his house, taking a sip from his coco and resting it from his sides—"and prepare yourself something to drink. Would you like it if I pull down my pants, show my bum to the world, and give you some hot fudge? Is that what you want, _big man?"_

"Look," he began, "I'm sorry. All right? I'm just mad at my mom right now. She was giving me lip about the progress report that came out."

"What'd you get?"

"One B, a couple of C's, and a D," Gumball said, taking a little pride in that B, even if it was for a class that graded you in attendance.

"I got A's and two B's."

He turned in both awed and shock. "How did you get that? I've seen you slack off more than anybody. Hell, the only class I would believe you're good at is gym, yet you lack massively in athletic skill."

"Look," Tobias began, now getting a little "ticked" off, "I'm as good as any other of our friends, and I don't need to that kind of crap from a pussy like you!"

Gumball didn't flinch nor blinked; however, he stood his ground in the snow.

"I'm sorry," Gumball said. "I'm just mad, and now I got you mad."

"Not your fault," he replied. "I actually worked hard for those grades. The first time in my life I ever had to work hard for something. I guess I'm a bit more sensitive about the fact that one of my friends decided to flip me the bird and say, basically, 'You didn't earn it,' and it hurts to hear it from you, Gumball."

Gumball looked down on the ground now, seeing the lump of snow and the unclear road of snow that no car has yet to go through.

"I'm sorry, okay," he said, "and I'm proud you actually got good grades."

"Proud?" he replied, "You sound like my father now."

They laughed.

Gumball and Tobias stood quiet for a while, waiting for the bus. It was until now Tobias realized that somebody was missing from their trio.

"Where's Darwin?" he asked.

"Darwin?" he said, almost like he had never heard of this here "Darwin" and the likes of him.

"Yes, your brother."

"I don't know," he said, looking back at his house. "He should be here, and if not…"

The two turned to see that their bus has arrived.

3

Penny was looking at herself in the mirror, naked. She viewed her newly developed breasts outside her shell. No matter what others have told you, one's opinion is never just an opinion. We all have doubt, and yet we are never sure what occurs until it happens. Until then, she was previously recorded as someone hiding in that peanut shell of hers.

She has noticed they have been growing for a good amount of time now. She realizes that there are indeed early bloomers, but she has recorded in the last six months that she was originally an A cup now going to the borderline of C and D (she even predicts she may go to even a DD cup).

Penny had just finished taking a shower out of her shell and glanced at her body, looking how far it has come.

She stood their, idealizing her breasts, looking how they weighed down and looked perfect. She was aware they weren't like those breasts you needed to hold together in a bra, and she felt lucky. It's funny how when you develop early, you indulge yourself in these certain types of information about breasts, what men "really" want, and how to keep fresh.

She decided to grab them, feel them on how they weigh. It felt like grabbing two massive water balloons you hold out to hit the son of a gun who kept getting you.

At this moment, while grabbing them, she felt herself getting aroused, ignoring that these breasts were simply a mask, and now she was loving the mask and ignoring the meaning of it. She held tightly, and yet this felt wrong to get aroused by the mask you show others. This mask, however, was never seen by anyone. Her parents aren't even aware of them, and yet Penny has managed to survive her ticket to womanhood by the means of books, personal experiences (not of hers, but from what she has heard), and the biggest of them all: the Internet. She bought and hidden tampons in her room and backpack so her parents won't know their flower had bloomed long ago. Sometimes we need to live in our own world to avoid the reality that haunts them to this day. One day she will fake finding out what is a "period" and let her mom explain what it means.

She enjoyed feeling them, and wondered how Gumball would like them…

Penny realized that Gumball is the only boy she wants to be with, but does he feel the same, or has he seen the mask, and if so, is the mask the only thing that interests him?

She has always worn her shell to cover herself up, and everyone believes this is merely a part of her.

"I…I…"

She wanted to give an explanation…but to what and why?

She let them go, and looked at how hard her nipples had gotten. She was amazed at how it felt, and how much pleasure she took in it.

Did she love herself so, or does she love the mask and would do the same to others if given the chance?

She quickly rejected these thoughts and grabbed her towel, dried herself up, and left to change back into her shell while her parents still slept at this time.

4

Sarah was already on the bus, writing down something:

"_If I were alive, I would kiss the man who missed me as I long for him."_

She quickly scratched that off her notebook covered in hearts, but were done in black and her notebook's cover provided it to be a good camouflage.

Sarah was wearing her brown coat, almost making her look like some college professor.

She couldn't wait to see both Gumball and Darwin—they were two boys who made her feel special and loved, and yet feels she knows the real truth about these boys. A lot of her classmates have said an awful lot of negative aspects about them. And yet, she feels it makes them more likeable and special. She feels that they are simply human, and it adds to the fact that nobody is perfect, and neither is she. The idea is whether or not we are able to admit it.

Gumball and Darwin aren't like a roll of dice for a meaningless game of chance; they are the needle(s) you find in the haystack. They bring purpose as to why you wanted the needle(s) in the first place.

She smiled as to why she fell in love with the two. But to choose on whom she likes better is ridiculous. The reason being is it takes away the positive and negative outputs. Gumball and Darwin are almost opposites that connect: Gumball is more the dumb one, but is the more the adventurer, the free; Darwin is the sweet one, but arguably the more dangerous at times, yet controlled by boundaries. To separate the two would be dumb and unethical.

"It's like," she began, "taking away the things you hate about the person you love. It destroys what makes the things you both love worthwhile and important."

The bus driver looked and asked, "Who are you talking to?"

"No one," she said, as the driver went back to looking at the road. She whispered, _"but the truth." _

5

Carrie was lying on the floor, questioning why she wouldn't move. Was it choice or instinct?

She didn't know, and yet she wondered why.

6

Teri couldn't cope with the weather, being both cold and filled with snow, like the heart of that dreaded witch she refers to as Masami. She hated her, and despised her.

She had once held her heart out for Masami, but was shredded when she knew who Masami was: deprived, manipulative, selfish, uncaring, arrogant, prima donna.

Still, she has stayed and kept quiet for one person: Darwin. She loved him—how sweet he is, how naïve he is, how fun he can be and is, how charming, how likeable…and yet, she isn't any of those things. She knows more about the darker nature of the human soul than anyone else, and appreciates people like Darwin. He wasn't a phony that ignores things because they don't care, he doesn't ignore them because he isn't aware of them, and yet it seems he may be the light to her dark…ness.

Teri imagined her being a demon while Darwin an angel. It seems cruel to mark yourself this and another the opposite, but that's what they are: opposites.

7

Principal Brown opened the door to his office in hopes for a better day, until he was grabbed from behind and felt a sharp blade emerge from behind.

"_If you're nice, you'll live,"_ the voice said.

It took him out back, passing a couple of staff members like Miss Simian and Mr. Small, but they never noticed from the third floor that Rocky was watching somebody tie up Principal Brown as they drove away.

Rocky believed they were taking away a Christmas tree, and went back to cleaning.

8

On TV, Nicole was watching the news, and saw the report they have made on the disappearance of Molly Collins and her mother. They had been gone for a while, and now they reported they had founded their car—an old station wagon off in the middle of the freeway that had flipped over, with the body of Molly's being found shot in the forehead—in the car—and her mother (assumed) was making a break for it and was shot in the back and bled to death in the snow, but was debated whether or not it was because of blood loss or hypothermia, or the shot made in her back.

As her eyes were now glued to the screen, the event has now been reported that all schools in their district will be closed—though a very irrational decision—because of the event, and the amount of snow has caused multiple roadblocks and is near impossible to get to their destinations, so they say—but at least a rational decision.

Nicole worried, she consulted Richard to stay and watch Anais, who was sleeping in her room, and Darwin, as she thought he might have been sick, though she never checked. She ran out to see that bus tracks were noticeable on the road, but seemed difficult to have passed by the snow.

She quickly shoveled her driveway and quickly drove to Elmore Junior High, following the path of the bus.

She wondered how Darwin was in bed (or his fishbowl, as it is), but what she didn't know was he wasn't in his fishbowl. He was gone, and he was already in school.


End file.
